You can allow yourself to close your eyes or soften your gaze and begin to take a few deep breaths in and out.
Noticing the way you're sitting here,
Upright and dignified or laying down and just as dignified.
Whatever position,
Is it possible to allow your body to feel relaxed?
Not striving or straining in any one posture or pose.
But just noticing.
Noticing your exhale to perhaps consciously let go of any tension or tightness.
Shifting your body in slight ways so that you notice comfort or a sense of ease around those tight areas.
And once you've found that particular posture,
Position,
Letting the effort of finding comfort fall into the background as you bring your attention to the simple,
Easy,
Natural rhythm of each breath.
One going into the next.
As you breathe in,
Is it possible to know and be aware that you are breathing in?
Hermanizing and unifying your mind,
Breath and body as you inhale.
Breathing as you exhale,
Bringing your full attention to this experience of breathing out.
Working with the in-breath as you inhale,
Noticing that your breath perhaps becomes deeper.
And as you exhale,
Your breath perhaps is becoming slower.
The more we are at ease with our breath,
The more we notice.
Breathing in slightly deeper and breathing out,
Lengthening and slowing it down.
When we can be with our breath,
We might notice a calming sensation,
A sense of being at ease,
Of well-being.
Breathing in and breathing out.
Realizing an ease of our body even when we're in the midst of challenging times.
We can be at ease when we are one with ourselves.
There is a silence,
A stillness and a spaciousness that gets created when we rest,
When we harmonize the breath,
The body and the mind.
There's a poem by Luke Andrew that reads,
Silence permeates the conscious mind like being deep into a winter night,
Calm,
Peaceful,
Silent.
Stillness permeates the body-mind like a pillar of stone or a mighty oak,
Strong,
Stable,
Still.
Silence permeates the field-mind like an infinite horizon,
A wide open field of possibility,
Full,
Sweeping,
Spacious.
Silence,
Stillness,
Spaciousness.
These three elements are within us,
Sometimes deep within our being,
Clouded over by current crises,
Hardships or the busyness of daily life.
What would it be like to access these deep wells of silence,
Stillness and spaciousness?
Not by conjuring up visions or checking off items on our endless to-do lists,
But simply being with the breath,
Tuning in to ourselves.
As we sit back and let our bodies and minds take care of themselves.
Rupi Kaur says,
On days you can't hear yourself,
Slow down to let your mind and body catch up to one another.
We all work so hard each day doing the things we need,
Taking care of others,
Meeting expectations.
What would it be like to rest for a few moments to get back to yourself,
To begin again and notice the beauty and love that naturally flows from being still?
Bringing your attention back to the breath,
The ease of your body,
Perhaps moving your body to come back into this moment in gentle,
Nourishing ways.
And when you're ready,
You can open up your eyes.
Namaste.
